Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Analysis: New Army Cyber Task Force

The U.S. Army has set up a special task force to counter the theft of sensitive data about cutting-edge defense technology by hackers who are breaking into the computer networks of military contractors.

The Defense Industrial Base Cyber Security Task Force was quietly established earlier this year in the face of what an Army document says are continuing large-scale thefts of "controlled unclassified information" from contractor systems.

"Exfiltrations of unclassified data from (military contractor computer) systems have occurred and continue to occur," states the document, "potentially undermining and even neutralizing the technological advantage and combat effectiveness of the future force."

At stake is sensitive data "used in the development of war-fighting systems during the acquisition life-cycle" -- in other words, information about and for weapons programs being developed and produced by private-sector contractors.